California will offer a new, targeted tax credit meant to pull picture editorial, sound, music, visual effects and finishing work back into the state, a bid to recover post-production jobs that migrated elsewhere. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB2319 on Friday, creating the credit for projects that filmed out of state but return their post-production to California.
The bill cleared the legislature with broad bipartisan backing and was signed the same day as AB186, which exempts certain productions from caps on existing tax credits. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and other local leaders supported the measure, and the Motion Picture Editors Guild and the California Post Alliance co-sponsored it during the push for passage.
The program will begin with an initial allocation of $10 million to get operations under way. Lawmakers framed AB2319 as complementary to the Film and Television Tax Credit Program 4.0 enacted last year, which provides $750 million to incentivize in-state filming and combat runaway production.
Union leaders presented the law as a direct response to lost post work. "This is a historic day for Editors Guild members and for California’s film and TV workers more broadly," said Scott George, National Executive Director of the Motion Picture Editors Guild. He added that while AB186 keeps the larger tax credit program supporting recovery in California, "AB 2319 will complement the program by making sure that even projects shooting outside of our state can come back to California to employ Editors Guild members in post-production."
F. Hudson Miller, President of the Editors Guild, credited lawmakers and grassroots activism for the win, saying, "We owe this victory not only to lawmakers and, of course, to Gov. Newsom, but also to the activism of our members and partners." Miller also noted the often-invisible nature of the work, declaring, "Post-production professionals work behind the scenes in dark rooms, unseen, to craft entertainment that dazzles."
Supporters singled out Assemblymember Nick Schultz and the California IATSE Council for advocacy on the bill. With the law now in place, state officials will draft eligibility rules and begin rolling out the program, while industry groups and local leaders will watch whether the incentives reverse recent trends of post-production moving to other states and countries.
